How ‘Batman V Superman’ Maybe Confirmed Robin as the Joker

Did the the latest clip from “Batman V Superman” reveal Jared Leto’s Joker as formerly being Robin?

I hate to be one for speculation but after Ben Affleck’s appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” I have to admit the theorist side of my brain started getting to work. It wasn’t Affleck’s appearance but the clip from “Batman V Superman” that accompanied his appearance and got me thinking. Sure we’ve seen this clip and it’s been circulating, but thinking of this dialogue and all of the other evidence supporting the outlandish theory, it’s hard not to see the correlation. Take a look at the clip below and then I’ll discuss why this scene is significant in revealing Jared Leto as both Robin and the Joker.

On the surface this is just Bruce Wayne presenting his case for why Superman is their enemy to Alfred. But as the conversation progresses we learn that Bruce Wayne is a bit more jaded from a past experience. His trust has been betrayed and someone he trusted as an ally was corrupted to join the side of evil.

How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?

The quote above is what has me thinking. Not “How many good guys are left” but the last part where Bruce says, “How many stayed that way?” Could this be confirmation of the speculation that Jared Leto’s Joker is in fact the former sidekick of Batman? Could the Joker be the product of a corrupted Robin?

Based on that quote, I can’t think of any other “fallen hero” that Batman would relate to other than Robin. We’ve seen Robin’s suit in the trailer and even Ben Affleck confirmed discussions regarding the sidekick within the film. Even in the trailer we see the remorse that Batman/Bruce Wayne feels as he gazes upon the costume, so wouldn’t the logical choice for his scorned attitude be losing Robin…perhaps losing him to the side of evil?

There are also other past details that insinuate that the Joker may be Robin. I’m not going into the long and detailed theories that have been presented in the past, but I will give the Cliff’s Notes.

The theories that support Robin as the Joker are actually derived from one big theory…the theory that Robin was not killed but instead turned evil.

Joker’s tattoos are easter eggs telling the story.

1. Joker’s Tattoos

This is a theory that I dismissed early on but felt it was worth at least acknowledging. The claims are that the tattoo under his eye and the feather on his bicep are references to Robin. In addition, the tattoo on his forehead simply stating “damaged” is said to be a (loose) reference to the corruption of Robin and becoming the Joker. Alone this theory carries very little weight and if that were all, I would not even explore things further.

The placement of scars on Robin’s suit and the Joker.

The holes in Robin’s suit and Joker’s scars

The next theory is that the scars on Robin’s suit match up with the (what appear to be) circular scars on the Joker’s shoulders in the same area. Could it be an interesting coincidence? Sure it could, but on the other hand mistakes are made when secrets come into play and in this case “the devil is in the details” applies in both the literal and figurative sense…depending on how you view the Joker.

“You let your family die” written on the newspaper.

“You let your family die”

The final part of the theory comes from the newspaper with the writing, “You let your family DIE.” At face value, this looks like a confirmation of Robin’s death and the Joker taunting him based on the font. But it’s not a character trait of the Joker to continually exist while knowing the identity of Batman. This leads people to believe that the letter comes from one of the few people that know Batman’s true identity and gives us another reason as to why the Joker is in fact Robin.

Final thoughts…

Alone none of these tidbits of speculative evidence hold enough water to prove that Robin is the Joker. In fact, I wouldn’t even entertain the theory if it were not for all of these theories combined with Bruce’s words from the clip above. There is still no certainty in this theory but it is odd how many pieces of evidence point towards this being a fact. I’m not 100% sold until I see the film, but I do admit that I’m no longer the naysayer that I once was. I can’t wait to see the outcome.

Are you more or less convinced by the theory? Do you think the evidence holds water?

Ryan has been fascinated with film and pop culture since childhood. Throughout college he "played it safe" taking the more lucrative route of being a computer programmer while squeezing in film related courses where he could...but even during his post college career, he could never escape his true passion. After following one of his favorite blogs for a long time, he approached the site's Editor about writing and they reluctantly gave him a shot. He later became their Senior Writer which led to a variety of other projects, radio show appearances, features, and high profile celebrity interviews. Despite his success with blogging, he still wanted more so in order to expand his creative addiction, he merged his IT skills and blogging know-how to create FilmFad.com which has continued to grow into a creative Mecca of pop-culture fun and integrity.[email protected]Film Fad